Born in 1912, in a small town in Wyoming, Jackson Pollock embodied the American dream as the country found itself confronted with the realities of a modern era replacing the fading nineteenth century. Pollock left home in search of fame and fortune in New York City. Thanks to the Federal Art Project, he quickly won acclaim, and after the Second World War became the biggest art celebrity in America. For De Kooning, Pollock was the "icebreaker." For Max Ernst and Masson, Pollock was a fellow member of the European surrealist movement. And for Motherwell, Pollock was a legitimate candidate for the status of the Master of the American School. During the many upheavals in his life in New York in the 1950s and 60s, Pollock lost his bearings - success had simply come too fast and too easily. It was during this period that he turned to alcohol and disintegrated his marriage to Lee Krasner. His life ended, like that of 50's film icon James Dean, behind the wheel of his Oldsmobile, after a night of drinking. This book throws light on a new era in art and on the personality of Pollock, the undisputed master of Abstract American Expressionism.


About the author:
Donald Wigal is a retired art, music and theology professor. He was an art and architecture indexer of the Academic American Encyclopedia and has contributed biographical profiles of great artists including Leonardo da Vinci, John Dee, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and other artists and visionaries to several encyclopedias.